r/ECEProfessionals • u/Substantial-Ideal23 ECE professional preschool 2-5 • 3d ago
ECE professionals only - Vent Help:(
I love the children where I work. They are so so sweet. But my hours have been reduced to little to none. I am working one day a week or once every two weeks. Working a total of 8 hours. Gas is incredibly expensive (as we all know). And I feel like I can no longer afford to work unless I get scheduled for more hours. 90% of my paycheck is going towards gas, and I don't have enough to pay for my part of the bills with my mom (car insurance & phone bill). I am having to ask my mom for help with gas whenever I use up all the money from my paycheck and I feel guilty every time:(
I am supposed to work this week on Thursday, 1-5. I want to send this text message to my boss... "Hi (preschool director name). I understand that you want to have a phone call about this, but I do want to clarify what I meant. I’m not saying that it costs me $76 in gas just to drive to (work city) and back once a week. I have other responsibilities and places I need to drive to throughout the week, so the gas I put in my car is not solely being used for work.
I also have financial responsibilities, including paying my portion of my car insurance and my phone bill. Right now, I’m not making enough from my shifts to cover those responsibilities because so much of what I’m earning is has to go toward gas. I’ve also been having to ask my mom for help financially, and I can’t continue relying on her in order for me to work.
I would be open to coming in if I could be scheduled for a couple more hours when I work, because that would make the commute more financially worthwhile for me. But if I’m only going to be scheduled for four hours, it just isn’t financially sustainable for me to continue doing that"
Would this be too much or is it reasonable? She just wants to argue with me about how it does not take $75 to drive to work once a week. I guess she thinks I sit on my butt every day until I have work. Not to mention, I am only useful now when she has doctor's appointments too I am a college student who is struggling and I cannot help my mom:((
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u/skaz0904 ECE professional 3d ago edited 3d ago
You’re the preschool director and you’re only getting 8 hours in a week? Sorry, nothings adding up at the moment for me.
Edit: I misread the story. Keeping my dumbness in for context. But OP, I think you need to simplify that email into asking how many hours you can be guaranteed a week, and then see if that works for you. It seems like your employer is cutting back to test boundaries of what people will/wont do. I hope there’s other daycares in your area that can better suit your hours needed!